The present invention relates generally to a swiveling device for a swiveling C-arm of an X-ray unit.
Diagnostic X-ray units are used in conjunction with treatment devices to determine the treatment site inside the body precisely before treatment begins, and during treatment as necessary. For example, they are used in the extracorporeal treatment of concretions such as kidney and urinary calculus. In such procedures, the focus of the ultrasonic source to be used to disintegrate the concretion is aligned precisely with the treatment site that has been determined previously with the aid of the X-ray unit. To determine the treatment site, the patient who is to undergo the treatment is first roentgenized with the X-ray unit in two different planes. To do this, an X-ray unit C-arm is used, on which an X-ray source and an image amplifier are arranged directly opposite one another, and typically constructed in swiveling manner. Thus, the patient may be roentgenized, for example, first in a vertical plane and then, by swiveling the C-arm manually in a plane at an angle to the vertical plane, thereby providing the treatment site at the intersection of the ray paths in these two planes.
The precise adjustment of the C-arm when determined the treatment site is relatively complicated and requires a certain dexterity. This applies particularly if the C-arm, which should really not be moved out of position after the ultrasound source has been focused on the treatment site, is shifted inadvertently, or deliberately for reasons of the treatment, and has to be swiveled back to its original position again.
Against the above background, an objective of the present invention is to provide a device that enables the C-arm to be adjusted more precisely and with which it is easier to adjust a swiveling X-ray unit C-arm.